La Gloria Cubana Cigars

La Gloria Cubana cigars are sometimes referred to as "once Little Havana's best kept secret," because Miami is where you'll find the roots of this Dominican-made brand that most cigar lovers buy and enjoy today. Since then, the La Gloria Cubana cigar has become the cigar of choice for cigar smokers who appreciate a richer, fuller bodied smoke. Their Cuban seed core from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua perfectly complement the beautifully aged Ecuadorian Sumatra natural and Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro wrappers to deliver the full, rich flavor that has won the brand a devoted legion of followers.

Introduced in 1885, the La Gloria Cubana brand ("The Glory of Cuba") is one of Havana's oldest Cuban cigars. Developed by José Rocha and Rafael García, the brand hit the ground running thanks to the Romeo y Julieta cigars brand owner, Pepin Fernández, who heavily promoted the new La Gloria cigars in Europe. After Rocha's death in 1954, the Cifuentes family bought La Gloria Cubana from Rocha's former company and production moved to the Partagás Factory in Havana. After the Revolution in 1959, Cifuentes put the brand on hiatus until production resumed in 1965.

In 1968, Ramon Cifuentes moved La Gloria Cubana cigars production to factories in both The Dominican Republic and Miami. The Miami factory, home of the El Credito Cigar Company, was owned by Ernesto Carrillo and his son Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr., who had been making cigars for the locals in Miami's Little Havana district.

La Gloria Cubana's factory, El Credito also has a Cuban back story. Located in the town of San Antonio de los Banos, Cuba, the original El Credito Cigar factory was purchased by the Carrillo family in 1928. The Carrillo's also owned several tobacco plantations near Pinar del Rio. Ernesto Perez-Carrillo's father was well-respected and so admired by the community that he entered politics, which eventually won him a seat in the Cuban Senate.

Life was peachy for the Carrillo family until the Revolution in 1959. Ernesto Sr. was arrested several times, and the Castro government took most of the family's property including the factory, warehouses and plantations, forcing the patriarch into hiding until he later escaped to Miami. It wasn't until 1967 that Señor Carrillo would work with tobacco again and reboot the El Credito brand.

After his father's passing in 1980, Ernesto-Perez Carrillo Jr. took over the El Credito operation. Already popular for their "Cuban-like" flavor, his goal was to create a La Gloria Cubana cigar that tasted even more like the best Cuban cigars. Ernesto Jr. accomplished this using a combination of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. The result was a more robust, full-flavored cigar that catapulted the La Gloria Cubana brand to fame in the United States.

By the time the cigar boom hit in the mid-1990's, La Gloria Cubana was a "must-smoke," and by 1996, the El Credito Factory was producing well over one million cigars a year. During the boom, if you weren't smoking a La Gloria Cubana cigar, you might as well have been smoking ham. The most popular cigar in the line, both then and now, was the La Gloria Cubana Wavell. Moreover, the increasing demand for the brand allowed Ernesto Perez-Carrillo Jr. to open a cigar factory in The Dominican Republic, which increased production exponentially.

1999 was a turning point year for the company. Ernesto Jr. created the now classic, La Gloria Cubana Serie R, which remains the most popular line in the brand. Tailored to cigar smokers who wanted full-bodied cigars in bigger sizes, the La Gloria Serie R contributed heavily to the demand for larger and more full-bodied smokes. That same year Ernesto Jr. sold the El Credito Cigar Company to Swedish Match (owners of General Cigar). Perez-Carrillo stayed on as a consultant while continuing to make his famous cigars in Miami.

In 2008 Perez-Carrillo created La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Miami cigars, a luxury class line rolled exclusively in Miami only by master Cuban-bred rollers who could handcraft sizes not previously offered in any of the La Gloria Cubana cigar brands.

Ernesto Perez-Carrillo left General Cigar in March of 2009, and today Michael Giannini, former Director of Marketing for La Gloria Cubana Cigars, now serves as the Director for the entire brand. Among the cigars Giannini has helped conceive and drive to critical acclaim are the La Gloria Cubana Serie R Black, La Gloria Cubana Artesanos De Tabaqueros, La Gloria Cubana Serie N, La Gloria Trunk Show, and the La Gloria Cubana Gilded Age, introduced in 2013, and produced exclusively for Famous Smoke Shop.

Today, all La Gloria Cubana cigars are made in the Dominican Republic. With General Manager Yuri Guillen at the helm, along with master blender Leo Peraza, a Cuban expatriate "Tabaquero Tripa Larga A" roller – the highest possible grade of cigar roller (as a 10th degree black belt is to Karate) – the company continues to thrive while creating some of the most intriguing, critically-acclaimed, and bestselling cigars online. Add one of these stunning La Gloria selections to your cart today!

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